


Kill Me Then

by findtherightwords



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 10:37:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16785265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/findtherightwords/pseuds/findtherightwords
Summary: Gellert's mind as Voldemort comes to try to figure out where the Elder Wand is, and what he sees in the afterlife.





	Kill Me Then

**Author's Note:**

> This take on the scene between Voldemort and Gellert is kind of my own creation, mixing both the movie and what little we got in the books, so it's not word-for-word on either. This originally had GIFs, so the ending was a bit more visual than verbal. Hope it all still makes sense.

Nurmengard. A fortress Gellert Grindelwald himself created was now his prison. It had been built to his specifications, meaning it was the only thing that would ever be able to hold him. And held him it did - for fifty-three years.

It was a quiet, lonely place. He was brought enough food and drink to keep him alive, and that was the end of it. Every now and then he'd get a Daily Prophet when the guards were feeling bad for the aging man and wanted to give him something to do. It kept him up-to-date with the Wizarding World outside the walls and was perhaps the only thing that kept him from completely losing his mind from isolation. They were very careful with him, knowing even after years of imprisonment, he was still brilliant.  
It was his theory that was why he was given the bare minimum of sustenance. Keep him alive, but not enough to be healthy or strong. Why they didn't just kill him was beyond him. It seemed like it would save them resources, and they'd be certain the first (and stronger) Dark Wizard would never be released. Perhaps they liked the idea of him suffering; he was weak, powerless, and had to watch the world go on without him. That was a worse punishment to them than to kill him.

They were arrogant, and thought so long as he was kept weak, he would be no danger to them. And for once? They were right.

His time in prison gave him plenty to think about. He wouldn't go as far to say that he felt remorse for the things he had done; remorse implied he had regrets and ceased believing in his former ideals, and that just wasn't true. But as he thought it all over, he considered what he could have done differently. What he should have done differently. The only thing he truly regretted was his relationship with Albus Dumbledore. No, if gifted a time-turner, he wouldn't go back and never meet the man... that wasn't where the regret lied. The regret lied in the fact he'd ever left him. Gellert and Albus were two halves to a whole and he was well aware that Albus was his better half, even in his darkest days. His former friend had the right ideas, as well as the power to accomplish them, and even without Grindelwald's help, he rose to power. The only difference was Albus didn't change the world with it - he just tried to change the lives of young wizards, teach them his wisdom, and be a good teacher and then headmaster.

Many people believed that Gellert didn't truly care for his partner and that he'd only manipulated him, and used him. Perhaps even Gellert himself believed that at one point. But it wasn't the case; he cared very deeply for his former friend and found himself thinking often of that young boy he shared his dreams and ambitions with back in Godric's Hollow. "What would Albus do if he were here?" "If only Albus could see the following I have." "I shouldn't be at the head of this alone, he should be here." Being in Nurmengard only gave him more time to think about it all.

He didn't need the Daily Prophet, or to be a Seer, to know when Albus Dumbledore had died. He just... knew. And he mourned him.

Gellert had heard of Voldemort throughout the years, his rise and fall, and then the rumours (which were then confirmed) of his return. He was sure people in the Wizarding World would compare the two, expect Grindelwald to agree with Voldemort and like his ways, but truth be told, he was just bored. They wanted different things -- Voldemort was a man who wanted power, and cared about blood status; Grindelwald wanted to make the world right, wanted to bring wizards and witches out of hiding, and didn't care about someone's blood. If they had the ability to do magic and do it well, they were fine in his book, whether they be muggle-born or pureblood.

Gellert had an inkling of what was coming, perhaps through his talents as a seer, but when he learned of Gregorovitch's death, he knew for certain that Voldemort was looking for the Elder Wand. He didn't know if Gregorovitch had ever learned his name, or if Voldemort knew who he was looking for, but he knew the search would eventually lead back to him.

The once great wizard laid in his stiff bed, and felt the air change, knowing he was no longer alone. Gellert looked up with a smile on his face, the Dark Lord in his cell. "Hello, Tom. I was wondering when you'd come," he spoke casually as if they were old friends. "I know what you seek, but I'm sure you're aware I do not possess it anymore," he said, holding his arms out to direct Voldemort's attention to the bare cell.

"Tell me, then, tell me where it is, Grindelwald," Voldemort requested, leaning in close, eager. His wand was out and pointed at the frail-looking old man, who didn't even blink.

"Why should I tell you? What good will it bring me?" He asked, his questions rhetorical. He was taunting the wizard, poking a bit of fun with him. He wouldn't tell him, even if the Dark Lord offered to release him, which he knew he wouldn't.

"If you don't tell me, then I will kill you," Voldemort threatened. It was why Gellert found him so boring. He was predictable and quick to threaten. Gellert almost yawned.

"Kill me, then. Voldemort, I welcome death! But my death will not bring you what you seek… that wand will never, ever be yours!" he taunted, laughing. He could see Voldemort shifting, and could sense something was wrong. The Dark Lord felt rushed by something, and that made him even hastier.

"Avada Kedavra." He heard the words before everything went black.

To an extent, he lived the lives of all three of the brothers -- it was the wand that brought him death, he longed to be with his loved ones, and when death came, he welcomed it like a friend. He lived by the Deathly Hallows story and died by it as well.

It was dark before it was light, and then everything was bright and white. Godric's Hollow, at winter time. He never experienced it, but he heard about it and saw photos. Winter was always his favourite time of year anyway. He took in his surrounders and relished in how light and comfortable he felt, something he hadn't felt in many decades.

As his gaze finally looked ahead, he found a sight he wasn't expecting to see.

"Hello, my old friend. I've missed you."

Gellert drank in the fact that he wasn't dreaming, or hallucinating. This was the afterlife, and this is what his afterlife was going to be.

He smiled softly, the first real smile in a long time. "I've missed you too, liebe*."

**Author's Note:**

> Liebe = Love in German.


End file.
